#there's some good stuff coming if I do say so myself

[mxrcurysb1tch]

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ Astrology 🐉observations pt. 5 ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

Song of the day <3 idk why but feeling this vibe today fr fr maybe it’s the Leo full moon making me wanna partyyyy

^ྀི Gemini moons are super intelligent and generally study maths or engineering. They’re also super good at getting stuff done even though they never seem to ever be actually working? It’s like a talent.

^ྀི Ever wonder how someone can think a certain way and yet speak in a totally different way? They likely have their moon and mercury in completely different signs. For example, I’m a Capricorn moon with a Leo Mercury and while I am generally very hard on myself and sometimes pessimistic, it sometimes comes out as me appearing overly confident or self obsessed even though I feel anything but that. Another example is, a Gemini moon I know, he is always overthinking in his mind, feels anxious or flighty but his speech is very calm and levelled, since he is a Capricorn Mercury. This can sometimes lead to frustration especially if Mercury is debilitated or retrograde. People with complimentary or the same moon and mercury sign might have a more congruent way of expressing themselves and because they are sure of their convictions, many people may listen to them and respect them.

^ྀི Mars and Mercury conjunctions make someone very good at insults or even verbal aggression, depending on the sign/house and other placements. Their humour is likely to be playfully making fun of people or even themselves. They may be witty with it too. When it comes to arguments they always know exactly what to say to win.

^ྀི Virgo placements especially rising, sun and mars have a tendency to be very connected to their bodies, and even hyper aware of the processes going on inside them. They’re not usually the types to forget to eat or rest. Not because they know better (but let’s face it they usually do) but simply because they feel their internal sensations so strongly. It can also sometimes develop into psycho-somatic conditions or health anxiety if it is too pronounced.

^ྀི Having multiple detriment placements (especially if you also have no domiciles and if Saturn is also involved) can make the native feel like they have to work super hard at everything they do and like nothing comes naturally to them. They might feel like they aren’t talented or gifted in any way or that they weren’t blessed in life like other people are. This usually isn’t true though, what these natives need is a bit of self belief and self love.

^ྀི Meeting someone with the same moon sign as you is an elite experience. You might just feel connected to them in some way and just intuitively understand each other. Of course it will depend on their other placements too, but usually you guys will feel like the other “just gets it”. This is because you won’t have to explain to them why you feel a certain way or modify your expression in order to relate to them on a deeper level. My childhood best friend has the same moon sign as me and I have always felt like we are platonic soulmates.

^ྀི Whichever house you have Scorpio in can show where/what in your life you are most secretive about. For example, if you have Scorpio in your 2nd house you might be very secretive about your money, home or possessions. You might not want people to know how you earn money/how much you earn or you might not like having people come over to your house. If you have Scorpio in the 7th house you might be secretive about your relationships, you might engage in a lot of clandestine flings or affairs.

^ྀི People with the same sun as their rising feel so warm and genuine, what you see is what you get. They’re usually super confident in their own skin. They can’t help but be transparent and bare their souls to you. The degree to which will depend on the sign, of course. However, People with the same moon as their rising might feel overexposed and vulnerable. They usually have a more quiet presence, or always look like they’re sad or far away. They’re usually lost in thought or emotion though as they can’t help but be forced to examine their inner world in excruciating details.

[silksongeveryday]

Drawing Hornet everyday until Silksong comes out - Day 731.

Well, after two long years of posting, I’m finally taking a break.

Thank you guys for everything for the past two years. It’s genuinely been so fun making daily doodles. But all good things must come to an end eventually. I’m tired.

What are the plans moving forward?

read below the cut if you’d like to know!!

Taking a break:

Life in general has been really rough lately. Tons of family drama, personal medical issues making it impossible to function some days, and my childhood dog recently passed away a few days after Christmas last year. So it was a real challenge to “keep up appearances�� if you know what I mean.

I’ve said this plenty of times in the past already, however I’ll repeat it since there’s surprisingly a lot more new people that have followed since then. I’m taking a whole month off from posting entirely. So I won’t be active on Silksongeveryday until about March 14th. Why? Hopefully it’s obvious but posting daily content for two years straight really does something to you. I’ve grown tired of this blog just a little bit, and I feel stepping away from it for a month will help me reconnect. I still love the game and its community, and I’d hate for my disinterest in a single blog to ruin that. If a month long break could fix that then so be it.

I’m also taking a somewhat indefinite break from daily doodles. I WILL still be posting doodles occasionally every once in a while after I come back from my month long break. However I won’t be doing daily doodles.

So no daily doodles ever again?

There is only one condition that has to be met for me to return to daily doodles.

A Silksong release date is announced.

Which is…let’s face it, a release date might not happen any time soon. 6 years of near radio silence from TC? I’m not expecting much, especially not in a month.

But WHEN a release date is announced I’ll definitely return to daily doodles and do a sort of daily “countdown” until Silksong is officially out.

Will doodle requests still be open?

Yes! Even if I will no longer be doing daily posts I will still occasionally post every once in a while with doodles! So if there’s a specific doodle you’d like to request and you have an extra $1 hanging around, hornet doodle requests are open on my ko-fi!!

What about the current projects that were happening on Silksongeveryday?

I’m still working on them! Just as mentioned before, a lot of stuff happened irl so it’s kind of on the back burner.

For the Hornet Journal Series: I plan to post the remaining entries after I come back from my month long break. Whether I work on them during that month long break totally depends on how I’m feeling. But there may be a likely chance I work on a few here and there on my own time! But regardless, I do plan to finish this project. So no worries!

For Hornet’s Strange adventures: I know it’s been ages since this particular project finished on the blog. Development for the free game is slow going since I’m working on this project entirely by myself with a game engine I’ve never used before. Progress is being made but it’s unfortunately slow thanks for irl conflicts. But, just like the journal series, I do plan to finish this project so I promise it won’t be abandoned!! I just need a break first lol.

___________

I think that’s all I have to say?? But if anyone has any questions, asks are always open and I’m more than happy to answer just about anything!

Thanks again for the wonderful experience, it’s been an amazing journey with you guys <3

See you all in a month!!

[queenlua]

your post about adding excitement to a story by increasing the pressure on a character was not something i’d heard before and i found it super useful. are there any other pieces of writing advice you find foundational and would be willing to share?

glad you found that tidbit helpful!

first, i’ll give my default caveat of “i’m just some guy on the internet, so take this with however many grains of salt you need”

plus my general caveat on… all writing tips/tidbits/advice? which is:

i find that, past the basics of “knowing about exposition/rising action/climax/denouement” and such, most writing advice ends up operating as a dusty old toolbox i open up now and again.  something in my story's not working; i’m not sure how to fix it; i pull out my little toolbox of tidbits i’ve accumulated over the years and see if any of the screwdrivers and wrenches in there actually fit.  the kinds of tidbits that are useful for me may be ACTIVELY DETRIMENTAL to someone else; someone who chronically overtightens their screws probably shouldn’t be told “have you tried tightening the screws more :D;;;;” or whatever.  and in particular what works for me is probably oriented towards genre-y stuff.

BUT, Y’KNOW, GIVEN ALL THAT

here’s the tidbits i find myself returning to over & over!

* three is a very powerful number.  i have a tendency to write myself into situations where you have Two Interesting Characters Doing Verbal Head-Games With Each Other, and that stuff can be tremendously fun, but it tends to run out of steam very quickly.  adding a third character to the scene combinatorially increases the dynamics available for you to play with.  so if you’re stuck, throw someone else in there.  (relatedly this is why awful dinner parties are Peak Literature™)

* if you’re writing a romance: put a sticky note on your monitor that says “WHY CAN’T THEY BE TOGETHER NOW?”  if at any point you don’t have a good answer to that, you’ve fucked up; rework the plot.

* this is a shlocky tidbit from the South Park creators that totally works: list all the scenes in your story, and then, between each scene, see if they are connected by THEREFORE or BUT versus AND THEN.

so., e.g., “the ocean levels in Tellius are rising, THEREFORE kilvas wants to migrate from their sinking islands and onto Serenes, BUT Reyson is opposed to that move, THEREFORE…”

that gives you a stronger structure than, like, idk, “the war ends AND THEN kilvas moves to Serenes AND THEN Reyson and Naesala get in a fight…”

you want it to be mostly “THEREFORE/BUT” and very few “AND THEN”s.  just a tighter overall plot structure

* each scene should accomplish at least two things.  the most common two things for a scene to do are ���advance the plot” and “develop a character”; i have a hazy memory that when i first read this advice, there was a list of, like, 1-3 other things a scene’s allowed to accomplish?  but i cannot REMEMBER that list, lol.  but use your imagination; i’m sure you can think of another valid thing.

i think this is more useful as debugging/editing advice than upfront advice—often, when you’re writing something, every scene will *feel* necessary, but upon reread, you’ll notice your attention is drifting, this doesn’t quite feel tight enough… and you’ll realize, oh, ugh, i just had three scenes in a row that existed Solely To Hit A Plot Beat; why don’t i combine those three scenes into one, condense the action, and also make sure a character’s doing something actually interesting/new while i’m at it.

(i think i see this plaguing a lot of novels that come out of nanowrimo in particular.  i mean, not me, because i don’t have the fast-twitch muscle required to do nanowrimo, but when i read other people’s nanowrimo stuff, it often feels like it was galloping through a bunch of plot beats without bothering to do anything else interesting.)

* if you're stuck on a particular scene/chapter, stuff to try:

delete the current sentence and start over

delete the current paragraph and start over

change the font and reread what you've got so far

open the document on a different screen and reread what you've got so far

print the thing out and reread what you've got so far

open a brand new document and rewrite the whole scene/chapter/etc from the start (NO PEEKING AT THE ORIGINAL VERSION)

go outside and look at a bird for a bit

take a nap

shoot a whiny discord message to a friend about it (even if it's solely rubber ducking, this can be helpful) (though if you have any friends who are good at writing AND ALSO willing to put up with your shit and offer helpful feedback AND ALSO you're not too mortified by your writing dilemma to share it with them, that's even better) (btw, any friends reading this: if you want to opt-in to messages like this from me, LET ME KNOW lmao, i'm really shy on this front!)

if you're DESPERATE: open a new document and just write out, like, "Character X wants Y. Character Z wants Q. These are the sources of pressure on character X. These are the sources of pressure on character Y. I want R to happen but I feel stuck because of M" and so on, just... really trying to dissect what the scene's trying to accomplish? most often, the outcome of this is, i'll notice in that "thinking aloud" document that i'm circling around some central question that I Don't Know The Answer To, and i need to answer that question to usefully proceed. sometimes this will be painfully obvious in hindsight. (e.g., sometimes you'll go back to your outline and you'll realize you've literally just hit the bullet point that says UGH OKAY THEY GET TOGETHER SOMEHOW I'LL FIGURE THIS OUT LATER, and you're like, ugh, fuck, it's now later, why is past-me such a bitch!) but them's the breaks. (in particular, i remember getting catastrophically stuck on a "meet the parents" story until i realized i was... avoiding actually writing out the "meet the parents" scene... which feels "well duh" in hindsight! but, like, hey, in order to write that scene, i needed to commit to some specific decisions on What The Story Was About, the same way artists gotta eventually erase a bunch of sketchy lines to commit to the Lines They Will Actually Be Inking, and that decision point feels hard and scary and no wonder i waffled lol)

okay so that's all the super-specific-concrete advice. here's some stuff that's more big-picture but i've still found personally useful:

* i once went to a talk where a novelist said she doesn't start writing a novel until she knows exactly what she wants it to look like on the bookshelf. as in: is it a schlocky trade paperback or is it a beautiful hardcover thing with fancy paper? does it have IMPACT FONT for the title or something handwriting-y? how many pages is it? and so on.

in service of this aim, she never writes any of the novel (no notes, no outlines, no snippets of dialogue, nothing) until she has that image vividly in her mind + she can't physically STAND not writing it any longer. for her, this process allows her to be sure that she knows what her novel is about—not necessarily in every single detail or plot beat (though, often she has a lot of that in mind before starting), but in terms of "what am i trying to say," "how do i want the world to look at it," etc, and she's found through hard experience that, while it's easy for her to start novels, it's often hard for her to finish them unless she has that crystal-clear image in her mind.

i can’t quite do her purity-of-method (my brain is scrambled eggs; i HAVE to write down snatches of dialogue and such before i get started on something or it all leaks out of my ears), but i see a lot of wisdom in it.  i do a lot of prewriting & thinking & scribbling out little snatches of dialogue and such before i really begin writing. i think everyone develops their own little heuristic for when they can be reasonably confident they know what their story is about, so you should try and figure out what that heuristic is for you & learn to trust it if you can? (a common one you hear a lot is "i have to know how the story ends / what the ending feels like," which makes sense; endings usually have a lot to do with what a story is About. i know NK Jemisin mentioned once she can't really start until she's nailed down the voice, and that also makes sense to me—you read The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and it's very clear that her choice of voice is a large part of what drives the story, it has a propulsive force of its own; it's The Thing that blasts the whole thing open for her. for me, i'm not sure i have a tidy heuristic, but there's a point where i've written enough snatches of dialogue plus bits of scenes that i've unlocked some core thing that i'm really excited about—i keep spinning out bits of dialogue and setting and such that are related to that thing, i'm so excited to see how that thing plays out across the story, i look at my outline and see only possibilities and wonder instead of connective tissue that needs to be filled in... and then, yeah, i'll know i'm cooking, but not one second before!)

note that the story is allowed to surprise me & change on me once i get properly started—my longfic changed substantially when i realized Reyson’s perspective needed a LOT more room to breathe than i had accounted for in the outline, and then changed substantially again when i realized the butterfly-effect-style implications that keeping Leanne around had for my entire storyline—the ending wound up being TOTALLY different than what i'd originally planned!—but like, in that case, i don't think my sense of what the story was about ever fundamentally changed; i just added two more huge elements that orbited that about-ness. if that makes sense.

* i think about this passage from Bayles & Orland's Art and Fear a lot. i'm actually not sure that advice is helpful for literally everyone—i do see people who somehow manage to write the same fucking thing over and over, for years and years, and never seem to develop their craft or make any movement toward saying something interesting.

but i do think most people are developing something even when it feels like "the same thing over and over," and as someone who probably tends toward too little output, i found it a useful reminder that returning to familiar forms, themes, and characters across pieces is intensely useful if it gets you in front of the keyboard again, so don't stress over novelty too much. (i find, if i'm still returning to a particular form/theme/character, it's because i feel like i still have some interesting new perspective on it that's genuinely worth exploring. if i have actually exhausted a topic, i'll know it because i myself will get bored, but anyone else's opinion is irrelevant!)

* ursula k le guin's steering the craft is more focused on craft & nuts n bolts than plot-debugging-type-things but i thought i'd give it a shout-out here because i've just found it so perpetually useful over the years. in particular we could all stand to read our stuff aloud more often; that fixes a lot of problems and she goes on about that in detail in chapter 1 haha

* oh, also, re: my "put more pressure on the characters" advice—you've probably already intuited this, but i think i found that framing more useful than the kinds of "raise the stakes / make sure every character has Stakes / Wants Something" advice you're likely to find in screenwriting workshops, because this framing feels like a more... abstract... way of talking about the same thing?

like, often those two types of advice are addressing the same problem, but when i start off thinking about "where is the pressure on these characters," i don't just have to think "time to heap more pressure on them," i can also, like. observe. where the pressure points in my work are. i'm not presupposing a solution. maybe there's a ton of pressure but it's the wrong kind of pressure. maybe there's a ton of pressure but there's nowhere satisfying for that pressure to go. it's very woo/fuzzy but yeah i use the general principle of "pressure" to frame a LOT of how i think about story construction; maybe that'll be useful to you!

* FINALLY, i don't have a nice packaged heuristic/tidbit/tool-shaped thing for this one yet, but i've been thinking a lot about how much perspective really Changes Everything about a work. your choice of PoV should be exceedingly deliberate; you should be taking maximum advantage of your choice of PoV at all times (what do they know? what don't they know? how do they think about the world? etc); also if you're editing something and you're noticing a lot of unconscious perspective breaks, that's a warning sign something's going badly wrong in how you're approaching the story overall—perspective should just be unconsciously correct if you're hitting stuff right imo

OK WOW SORRY THAT GOT SO LONG but hope at least one of these lil bullets are useful for ya! happy writing~

[blackseakraft]

TY FOR THE TAG!! @leapingbadger

What's the origin of your blog title? I like to write phrases and nice sounding things in my sketchbook while I draw in case I want to use them for something later. Black Sea Foam was one of them. It doesn't mean anything, I just like the way it sounds.

OTP(s) + Shipname: I don't engage in shipping much, but I suppose it's TechPhee since I've actually drawn them being cute together multiple times.

Favorite color: BRIGHT Fuschia, a little on the purple side. It reminds me of the Dark Crystal.

Favorite game: Red Dead Redemption TWOOO will probably be my favorite game forever.

Song stuck in your head: Heat Waves by Glass Animals

Weirdest habit/trait? I HATE people touching my fingernails, I compulsively press down on them because they're just really sensitive I guess. I've never ever gotten a manicure for this reason. I've worn press on nails one time and it drove me INSANE I couldn't think about anything else. I tried to tough it out for two more days but it never got better. Weirdly though, when I lose chunks of my fingernails from sports and stuff I don't really care.

Hobbies: Drawing, painting, knitting, writing, skijoring, bikejoring, hiking, downhill skiing, mountain biking (planning on finally getting a real bike this summer), Model/Figure/Mini painting, Dungeons & Dragons (I'm a PC in one game and a DM in another and I couldn't be more pleased at the moment), Reading, Lego (when I want to treat myself), a little bit of fishing and crabbing but I suck at it.

If you work, what's your profession? I am a Fisheries Biologist! Well I'm technically a Science Technician, but biologist gets the point across easier. I'm working up to being a biologist. I mostly work in the field, walking or floating rivers looking for salmon and sending the data to my bosses who use it for managing fisheries. I keep getting hurt though so I'm looking for a new job with less physical labor at the moment.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? A homesteader/artisan. My dream is to have some property and be mostly self-sufficient, have a ton of animals, and use art and crafting for supplemental income. Might have to wait for retirement, but I still love my job now.

Something you're good at: I'm very good at learning by watching, or reverse engineering something to figure out how it works. I feel like my brain lends itself well to engineering-type thinking because it is easy for me to picture structures in 3d and move them around in my brain. It helps a lot with art, sculpting, and animation. I think drawing representatively since I was a young child really developed this part of my brain.

Something you're bad at: Understanding abstract concepts like physics or advanced finances (do not ask me what anything more complicated than a loan is, I will cry).

Something you love: I LOVE my new weighted blanket. I've never owned one before, but it really helped me relax while I was recovering from a concussion last week lol. My dog loves it too.

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: The connections between Spirituality, Nature, and Art. I have a few friends who I engage in this topic with and we will go on for HOURS. I always feel so thankful afterward.

Something you hate: When someone leaves their water bottle loose in my car and it rolls around while I'm driving >:0

Something you collect: I collect driftwood with holes in it! Usually comes from thick pieces of outer wood that grew around a branch and somehow came off the tree with the hole intact. I LOVE THAT SHIT.

Something you forget: Well if I could remember what it was I'd tell you.

What's your love language? QUALITY TIME!!! Sharing experiences especially when they involve movement, or body doubling. LOVE IT.

Favorite movie/show: My favorite movie is Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal.

Favorite food: AAA damn idk. Anything savory. I am so down bad for fishy stuff recently, like dried squid and clams. I suppose I'll just say seafood in general.

Favorite animal: Besides the obvious (dogs and horses) my favorite animal is a Reindeer/Caribou!

What were you like as a child? Feral. I used to pretend i was some kind of animal at all times, got in to a lot of trouble at stores for doing things like spitting on the windows and running around. Absolutely should have been tested for ADHD at a younger age.

Favorite subject at school? Art is the obvious one. I also loved science, which is also sort of obvious.

Least favorite subject: In college I really struggled with Physics and Economics.

What's your best character trait? I am very patient. I think because the rest of my family is extremely impatient, I went the other direction. It contributes hugely to my mental health and makes creating things extremely fun. On the other hand, I tend to not stand up for myself when I should. It's hard for me to recognize when it's appropriate to stop being patient.

What's your worst character trait? Emotional sensitivity. It's my greatest weakness and strength. Confrontation of any kind makes me freak out, it's hard to know what battles to pick, and I usually choose the wrong ones. It has a lot of benefits too though! I think intuition and sensitivity go hand and hand, it helps a lot with dog training. I think it makes animals intuitively drawn to you as well.

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be? I'd make my dog less anxious and reactive. He's doing great and is happy and fulfilled, but I will never be able to fully trust him outside of our comfort zone. It's a constant anxiety I have to live with, but working with trainers (and therapy for myself lol) has helped so much and I have so many tools to help both of us.

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet? Jim Henson!!

Tag as as many mutuals as you want!!

@eobe @spicy-tomato-sauce @disaster-by-chance @paperback-rascal @ghostymarni and YOU IF YOU BOTHERED TO READ THIS

I tagged every moot for THIS blog, there are too many on my main lol

Get to know your mutuals!

What's the origin of your blog title? When I was in middle school, someone told me "you dress so goth, but your personality is so happy. You're like a really cheerful grim reaper. A joyful soul collector." And that's been my username for most everything ever since!

OTP(s) + Shipname: Oooh, right now it's Jayvik, and tbh I can't think of another one, this is one of the first ships I've been really really into tbh. Other dynamics focused on my blog have actually been more platonic, like Irondad

Favorite color: Red!

Favorite game: Dungeons and Dragons! Both as a player, and DM!

Song stuck in your head: The Challenge - EPIC

Weirdest habit/trait? I download thousands of still frames of tv shows that I love so I can make memes out of them. But I have to sift through and delete all the pictures that are blurry or unnecessary, which takes hours. I think it's super fun because I'm autistic and really enjoy sorting stuff lol

Hobbies: Writing, playing DnD, making memes, and hanging out with my friends!

If you work, what's your profession? Not so much a profession lol, I work at a toy store. It's a part time job while I'm in college, studying to be a radiologist!

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? Realistically? Radiologist. But ANY job I wish? Professional DM or Professional DnD player, like the people on Dropout or Critical Role haha

Something you're good at: I'm good at writing stories! I can write them well and write things that make people feel deep emotions, and I like that.

Something you're bad at: Recognizing when someone doesn't want help haha. I tend to try and fix things or help people when they just want to vent, and it ends up frustrating for both of us.

Something you love: I love stories. Any kind, I love so so many

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: My favorite shows and stories, my dnd campaigns and characters, my stories and ideas

Something you hate: Fascism. Bigotry. Willful ignorance. Fearmongering. Propaganda.

Something you collect: Dice!! I'm a dice goblin for sure haha

Something you forget: I often forget chores unfortunately

What's your love language? Physical touch and acts of service

Favorite movie/show: Ooh right now it's definitely Arcane haha

Favorite food: Sushi!

Favorite animal: Cats!

What were you like as a child? In a word? Unwell haha. I'm a good bit better now, still struggling with a lot, but better than I used to do

Favorite subject at school? English, I was always good at that class

Least favorite subject: Chemistry. I hate that shit so much lol

What's your best character trait? I think that I'm kind and willing to stand up for others

What's your worst character trait? I can be disrespectful to some types of spirituality unfortunately. It just doesn't make logical sense to me. I have two friends that are fully convinced that a cursed doll gave some youtuber testicular cancer. And I just can't see the logic or critical thought in that

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be? Mmm. All of fascism shit is definitely damaging my calm so I'd love to change that specifically

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet? Harry Allen. Google him he's a badass transgender cowboy

Tag as as many mutuals as you want!!

@sb-essebi @glitternightingale @blatterpussbunnyfromhell @captainhollowstories @kydrogendragon @misforvendetta @poetryinmotion-author @bocularteletheric @kai-ovillager @thatoneneuvichiliauthor @4amarcanethoughts @alexspearsxoxo @kotonni @buckybucananbarnes @kakesuwolf @martybaker @patheticjayce @sleepycrowhours @aixabi @up-the-bracket @snoopyviktor @emdashflower @humanshapedstress @hellsalore @juuzousmom @softandslow @fangirlshenanigans04 @batmans-attic @lvrstrsh @bluemoyai @tearexxwrites @bodyofvvater @lifeandeathepub @areesespiece @lancesblueazaleas @monaisme @milkywaysipper @carmendyy @tseecka @heazueken @tophat-69 @velocitychroma @prjctdiva @gremlinofchaos @ourvectorviktor @kenjinx @jxmimac @gh0stedvhampir @voxconcordia @arcaneheraldslawyer

ngl I tried to tag ALL my mutuals that I have, but this was how many it allowed me to do before it made me stop lol so here's as many as I could fit!

[soaps-mohawk]

at this point i’ve established omega reader as her own entity because she’s such a complex character (in a positive way, i love it), whereas i’m an amalgamation of personalities i’ve copied and pasted off of other people. with that being said-

i LOVE how the story has progressed thus far, especially with how all of their personalities interact with the plot. they make the same mistakes over and over again— reader being too afraid to open up, price putting all else over himself even if it hurt him, kyle constantly feeling like he could be doing more but not knowing how to, and johnny doing his best to level out ghost’s temper while also being there for reader.

they’re going in circles, stepping on each other’s toes, stumbling back into square one over and over again because breaking out of habits isn’t easy, and changing for people you don’t know—for better or worse— isn’t that smiple. it’s messy and it’s painful, and you’ve captured that perfectly <3333

im so excited to see how far this story progresses🥰, AND THAT LAST CHAPTER LITERALLY HAD ME WANTING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA SHEPHERD👹👹👹

- 💕🐠

Aww thank you, love!!! There's definitely a line to take a shot at Shepherd now lol, but I don't blame anyone, I would also like to hit that crusty man on his shiny head.

As much as I love pretending that relationships can be totally perfect and nothing bad ever happens, and I've definitely written some fics like that, it's just much more fun to explore the less glamorous sides of relationships too. The adjustment periods when you first get to know one another, learning each other's quirks and how to adapt to each other, as well as exploring each of their personalities. Especially in situations like this where it's not necessarily a relationship formed entirely by choice.

There's definitely some cyclical behaviors going on, especially with this set back. It'll be interesting to see how they move forward from here and what happens when things do inevitably come to light. (Well, it'll be interesting for all of you, I already know what happens lol)

I'm so glad you've been enjoying the fic, though!! That makes me happy to hear!! 💚

[skunkes]

reposting some old doodles i still enjoy a bit

[isabelguerra]

​Anyway I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who liked my stuff over the years, it meant a lot to me.

I was a very lonely, very scared teenager. i wanted friends so badly that the idea of saying something Bad and ruining those chances forever was literally, without exception the worst fate imaginable. So I kind of developed without understanding my actual self, bc i never explored them or questioned them on a deeper level! i was always terrified of saying anything outside the popular consensus; I anxiously conflated it with this weird, nebulous, ever-present Danger.

Aaaaaand as I started this blog up in 2022, I made it with the clear, singular goal to be a hidey hole. one place to be fully alone. One place to say cringe things without anyone being bothered by it. Where i wouldnt be bothered by my fear of anyone seeing it. no tagging anything. no interacting with anyone else. staying in my lane and staying out of everyone elses. 0 note posts only. Be upfront that this blog is selfish, that my jokes are bad, that i can be standoffish, and a complex thing without nice solutions. be the maze. and that that wasn’t synonymous with….. ‘be an asshole’.

But then i started to actually explore myself and develop as a person and a writer because of this blog, which I never expected to happen. I threw shit at walls without inhibition. over time i realized I was finding something i’d spent my life looking for and never even knew: what i actually like in stories. Like, I’d always had Opinions on media before, but they were rooted in that negging itch to do it Right and be Good at it. i wasn’t really understanding things. Or questioning them. Or questioning myself.

And this — not only exploring and living as that part of myself, but making friends because of it? People liking me and being interested in my work because of it? Not just in spite of it? Seeking me out because they were fans of it??? Learning that i could be nice at the same time that i was myself? And that doing so encouraged others to do the same?????? was a one in a million chance. It was, unironically, the boost I needed to be the most genuinely authentic and happy version of myself i have ever been in my life.

and i owe that to every person who ever liked a post. asked a question. replied with their contribution. played into a bit. read an au. left a nice tag. I started isabelguerra as a hole to lock myself in like the omelas kid. and the actual me came out of it. fuck i started writing this with some tongue in cheek about being unsure if i’ll ever come back but it’s making me emotional typing this all out. v

dunno where i’m gonna take this blog from here. I used to be pretty vocal about championing nuance

^thats what i typed before I started to backedit.

Anyway no I’ll always champion nuance. Have u guys ever read Ursula K. le guin or octavia butler? I’m a huge fan of their work rn, they’re sci-fi and fantasy gods in the literary sphere. Their work is so offbeat! and unconventional! and challenging! and i just adore adore adore it. And it’s WEIRD! Their writing challenges every viewpoint on gender, on bodies, on sexuality, and the purpose of magic, and alienation…. They think about things so deeply. and it’s smart. and introspective. I’ve become a little less verbose since I stopped posting here — consequence of not writing regularly in 3 months, and freezing up whenever i do, i guess — but theyre so good and a huge inspiration to me. When i was freaking out in discord a friend told me that they actually agreed with him and Did think my work was weird, but that they like weird stuff and thought it was awesome. literally all they said was ‘le guin is weird. butler is weird. it’s weird, not harmful or morally dubious. what do you want? do you Want it to be weird?’ and that snapped me out of it instantly; even more than the friends who insisted it wasn’t weird (i love you guys too though. ty for being there). Its the highest and most personal compliment ive ever gotten

Anyway i’m not gonna closet myself or ever stop fucking with or experimenting with or being weird about gender, or being curious about and interested in other people’s nonuniversal experiences. I hope jonah does well and can move on without friction

Hey, im alive. been doing really weird lately. don’t know if I’m ever coming back to this blog. but alive

[icewindandboringhorror]

boy in silly sitting positions compilation

[moopbox]

do u ever feel alive but not...

like ur body is alright n stuff but ur mind...isn't... I don't FEEL alive... its like I'm distant from me... I'm not here... I can feel my limbs I can feel the blood going through me I can feel everything that I've ever hurt.. I can breathe...I can see.. i can write these words down....but I'm just not. just not here my head is fuzzy,parts of me hurt..idk..

more in tags...

[vaguely-concerned]

I was just ambushed within the turbulent halls of my own mind by some headcanons about rye ingellvar's childhood that did 15000000 points of psychic damage to me and my heart personally and also made me almost sure of how I want to play it all at the end (very very differently from how I imagined going in!). some 'oh holy fuck this changes everything' rocking my own world bullshit going on in my neurons right now I'm reeling

[asfdhgsdkjhgb]

god is swuarshing me beneath his thumb like i am an aphid or perhaps a clover mite. yeah. its slow and painful and im small. and also meek

[joutsummer]

.

[legogender]

caught up finallyyyy. that shit was FIRE

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

hai guys :3

[bearsinpotatosacks]

Update on my Whumptober thoughts: Not all the prompts will be posted, I have all 31 planned out but I found out that you don't have to post all 31. If a fic is finished, I'll post it but there's some big beasts that I want to write properly instead of rush. Also, I might not even write all 31. I want the completionist title but I don't have the time nor energy to force myself to write all the prompts and I did it last year and it wasn't like life-changing. I like Whumptober because the prompts help my creativity, spark some inspiration (talking about my Delancey Brothers Fic) but the perfectionist in me just beats myself up about not getting enough fics done before October or not writing enough each day to get them finished and then writing fics that all sound the same or the ideas being kind of shitty because I'm forcing them. I want to do my ideas justice rather than mass produce shit I don't like because I feel I need to, it's a constant line I walk between "I want to write something well and that I'm proud of so might be inactive for a while on AO3" and "I want to get this idea out there so need to post a bunch of stuff now"

[lesbianlenas]

ever since i discovered thrifting clothes online it is now a weakness of mine i’m like oh i can get this nice shirt for an affordable price? and then i have gotten 5 shirts at an affordable price and spent $80 😔✌️